Feds looking for industrial space in Ottawa or Gatineau

The federal government says it’s looking for nearly 60,600 square feet of centrally located warehouse space, a potential move that could lower east Ottawa’s industrial vacancy rate by three-tenths of a percentage point.

Public Works published an invitation to landlords Wednesday to submit information about the availability of warehouse space with 24-foot ceilings, 5,000 square feet of office space and 30 parking spaces for a 10-year lease.

The property must be either located in central Gatineau, between the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers, Chelsea Creek and St-Joseph Boulevard / Highway 5, or in Ottawa, north of Hunt Club Road, west of Highway 417 and Cyrville Road and east of Bronson Avenue and the Airport Parkway.

The government did not say what the space would be used for.

Real estate services firm Colliers International said in a recent report that east Ottawa is home to more than half of the city’s industrial properties and could see more activity in the coming quarters.

“With no new product currently being built, old product has the chance to move more quickly than in the recent past – especially as the newest product continues to lease up at a quicker rate,” Colliers said in its quarterly market report.

The submarket’s vacancy rate stood at 5.7 per cent at the end of 2016, up from 5.3 per cent in the third quarter.

A 60,600-square-foot lease by the government or other tenant would lower that to 5.4 per cent, according to Colliers’ statistics.

The government solicitation notice said Public Works was building a source list of available space and may ultimately choose not to lease any of the properties submitted.